its just peak
the subtle storytelling as you plow through each zone... the layered paths with goodies to find practically everywhere... and the bonus games that gave me a gambling addiction... [wait maybe i shouldn't put that in the review]

seriously though, i love this game. it only gets better everytime i play due to the sheer density of the levels. i can feel myself improving and finding new secrets with practically every new run, too. running through a deathtrap like marble garden while holding 200 rings the whole time and then gambling them all away in the bonus stages is sheer bliss to me. [wait why is sonic 3 synonymous with gambling for me now]

maybe one day i'll get those super emeralds, too.

Easily my favorite of the classic Genesis games. Same great qualities as usual such as the amazing visuals and music. The main thing that stands out the most to me are the practically seamless transitions from zone-to-zone and act-to-act that does a great job at making the world feel connected than feeling like just a bunch of levels. There are also a lot of moments that really caught me off-guard, such as Angel Island on fire or the different seasons of Mushroom Island. In return the levels are a blast to play through minus a few stinkers like Marble Garden, beginning, and Launch Base to an extent. I really like how the special stages are implemented, where you have to seek out the special ring in the level, and Blue Spheres is just really fun with how it gets faster the more spheres you collect as a fun challenge. Overall like I said in the beginning, this is my favorite of the classic Genesis trilogy, and this is absolutely worth playing.

Sonic 3 & Knuckles is one of the first games I remember playing, ever. I remember asking of the older guys in my incredibly small, rural Portuguese village to "put a Sonic videogame in my computer" after seeing an ad for a Sonic videogame in a magazine back then. This must've been back in 2010, 2011 - I was 8 or 9 - and I don't remember what specific game the ad was for, but the dude downloaded Sonic Mega Collection Plus onto my small Packard Bell laptop, along with Puzzle Bobble and Metal Slug bundled with the MAME emulator, and I spent most of the time playing on my computer circling through the first levels of those videogames.

I don't really understand people who say they beat games as kids; maybe it makes more sense if you had a console and your parents bought one specific game that you asked for (as it was the case with my 2DS and Pokémon X - I beat it!), but my parents barely ever gave me money for anything, let alone videogames, except for, I think, one or two instances. So, for me, it was mainly flash games, hacked Pokémon ROMs in VisualBoyAdvance, and pirated games that may or may not have not contaminated my poor and already slow little computer with adware and malware more than once.

But I digress. My memories of Sonic are mainly from the original classic trilogy, whose first levels I beat over and over again. I don't quite remember why, but with Sonic 3 and Knuckles, I have more memories from Mushroom Hill Zone than Angel Island Zone - I don't know if I triggered something to play Sonic and Knuckles instead of Sonic 3, but it must've been something like it. I liked bouncing around on the mushrooms, I thought the things that trapped you unless you spindashed your way out of their grip were annoying, and I was surprised to see Knuckles being evil.

That more or less sums up my experience with the game until I tried Sonic 3 A.I.R. I played a borrowed copy of Sonic Rivals 2 on my PSP, whose UMD broke and only the disk inside remains now, in one of my old closets. It was cool. In my early teen years, my gaming life was basically just Pokémon; later on, I explored more games and acquired tastes for different, less mainstream franchises, and I just mostly didn't think about Sonic. When I tried playing a Sonic game, I just didn't get the appeal. Sonic went fast, but I couldn't just press forward because I would bump into obstacles (like in the first few levels)? What the fuck? Where's the fun in this? I wanted to speed though everything without a second thought. The levels were confusing, there were just way too many obstacles going on. I just thought it was boring and, with the abundance of videogames to play, I didn't find any reason to press on. I remember Sonic Mania coming out, me installing it, and not feeling any particular feelings towards the game.

I mostly installed this out of curiosity, since it has such phenomenal reviews on Backloggd. I like fan made ports, localizations, videogame labors of love in general, even if I don't personally harbor an interest in the franchises or the like. I like messing around with this stuff. I recently patched a ROM of Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere with the localization overhaul by Load Word Team, Just In Case I Ever Want To Play It™. Hence, I booted A.I.R., "just to see how it ran", I thought.

It ran beautifully. The game is incredible.

I was incredibly, pleasantly surprised to have a Sonic game finally "click" for me. First off, the port is obviously gorgeous and shows off an outstanding level of polish - Eukaryot clearly deeply loves the game, and they have my kudos. I'm glad that I ended having my "definitive" experience with such a spotless version of Sonic 3. Secondly, this is a fantastic videogame, full stop. Sonic 3 & Knuckles truly feels like a complete package, if that makes sense. In my experience with it, I don't think I felt like anything was missing or left the game craving any more levels or bosses or whatever - it's very densely packed with quality gameplay, setpieces, tunes (some composed by Michael Jackson, I hear?) boss fights, and all very nicely wrapped up in a little bow. As I paced through the first levels, I thought to myself: "wow, how did I NOT see the appeal of this before?"

Generally speaking, in videogames, you either choose to speed through a gameplay segment, or take your time exploring it to catch anything you might otherwise miss. But, in Sonic, exploration rewards you not just with knowledge about the level but, with it, the ability to more gracefully speed through it afterwards. The levels are sprawling in verticality, almost labyrinthic, and full of nooks and crannies with special stages and powerups. This might be a superficial analysis of "the point" of classic Sonic's gameplay loop, but realizing this by myself was key to be able to interpret the level layouts and the game itself as a little puzzle to be slowly deciphered and put together while bouncing around, instead of a mindless sidescrolling pseudo-racing track.

I like the variety of Sonic sprites in the game, be it with him ducking, sprinting, rotating horizontally, vertically. That combined with the very good physics and some smart visual tricks makes for some real kinetic and dynamic gameplay. The opening of the Ice Cap Zone, for example, is hard as hell. Game's colorful and spritework is very good, and the sometimes almost abstract aesthetics of some levels like Marble Gallery or Carnival Night are a real treat to the eyes. I very much enjoyed the differences and gimmicks each level has to offer. I feel like Sonic Team really made the most out of what they could with the Mega Drive hardware. Level design is super solid, too - I don't understand too much about Sonic level design or level design in general, but I was never bored. I giggled a bit when I realized falling in Ice Cap looped into itself and I was waiting with my controller in my hand for nothing. My friend told me about the infamous Carnival Night barrel (I would've not figured it out otherwise). The Mushroom Hill bouncy mushrooms, levers and wind are awesome, the drifting sand and ropes in Sandopolis are awesome, Hidden Palace is gorgeous, etc. The game consistently stays pretty, varied, fresh, interesting, and the I thought the Blue Sphere Special Stages were super nice, as well.

The only level that I didn't enjoy as much, and whose difficult I felt was unbalanced compared to the rest, was Death Egg. Obviously, I know that the last level in a videogame is supposed to be a culmination of the difficulty in it, but I genuinely felt like it was a huge spike compared to the rest - probably about one third of my play time is just me hitting my head against Death Egg over and over again. It got to a point where I was one click away from deleting the game and marking it as dropped, which frustrated me immensely; this was being a great experience, this made Sonic click for me, so far the game was being so nicely executed in just about every aspect I could think of, why the hell was I getting stuck Now, so close to the end? Plus, I just hate dropping games just as I'm about to finish them. Uugh. Anyway, this level has some seriously frustrating elements. The enemies are the toughest and guys like Spikebonker (lol) can seriously kill you a few times if you don't pay attention to where you're going. It also has several sections where your movement is controlled by some sort of platform, like the light rights or the mechanical caterpillars, which makes progressing slower. And the bosses are a test to your endurance and to your patience. In the last one, where Eggman shoots you with a laser, if you die, you respawn with 0 rings, and get instakilled at the slightest mistake. It's frustrating.

And just as I was about to drop the videogame, one of my friends urges me to try one last time. I open the game and, with only a single death, I complete the level. I... beat it? I don't see many more people complaining about Death Egg. Maybe I was just mentally stuck...? Weird.

Anyway, I complete the game. As a treat, I try Doomsday Zone, which has just the right amount of space bravado for the actually-this-is-the-last-level level. I think my Sonic curiosity has been satisfied for a while, but I'm definitely checking out titles like Sonic CD and Sonic Mania Plus in the future. Please play this videogame, even if you've never understood the appeal of Sonic before, or have played other Sonic videogames but didn't enjoy them so much. I believe you're definitely going to enjoy it!!

Marathonned the whole Sonic series in a year for the 30th anniversary.

This review is less about the quality of Sonic 3&K as a game and more about the excellent work done by Eukaryot to make a perfect Sonic game even better. The sheer amount of features and options put into remastering the game, by remastering the game's music, incorporating the originally unused prototype music as an option (the benefit of not being legally obligated to replace your music like Sega mandated for Sonic Origins), 16:9 screen space, and LOTS of mod support. I personally like to play this game by implementing many of the unused sprites, music, and level order found in the November 1993 prototype as possible, because I've played the vanilla version of the game so many times that it's fun to spruce up a new playthrough with new details you don't normally get to see.

If you had a copy of Sonic 3 & Knuckles from Steam prior to its delisting, A.I.R also actively encouraged people to legally buy Sonic 3 from a digital storefront because it runs using the Genesis ROM as a base. It's super impressive how that was done, and I commend Eukaryot for his work. I can never go back to playing any other version of Sonic 3 thanks to this port.

This rating goes specifically to the work done on AIR, and not S3K itself.

God damn is this impressive. To the uninitiated, it might not be anything worth noting at first glance, but there are so many tweaks and optimizations that easily make this the definitive way to experience S3K. You can REALLY tell that everyone who worked on this really cared about the game.

This is the gold standard for re-releases. SEGA should be ashamed of putting out collections that barely reach a tenth of what AIR accomplishes.

Best way to play this game. Definitely top 3 Sonic games ever, and in my opinion, just a fun game to replay from time to time. Whenever I just want to wind down, and relax, I just throw this on and listen to a video essay, or lecture in the background. Multiple characters with their own playstyle, and mods to create the best Sonic 3 you want, you can't go wrong with this version.

If you can, though, support the official release. Origin's version of Sonic 3 is a good alternative, thanks to the Ultrafix mod, so if you're willing to throw down some cash, get it on Steam and install that mod.

This, and Sonic Mania, are 2D Sonic at it's finest.

Probably my favorite sonic after experimenting mods, level design-wise i slightly prefer sonic mania, but to play through this with Shadow and his boost and homing attack, Chaos and his moveset from all main characters and a harder final boss, Amy and her hammer, Fang and his gun and triple jump, Mighty and his immunity to spikes in a game with lots of them, it's all a blast, add this with the already amazing gameplay from the main characters, banger OST, and the improvements this have compared to the vanilla game or even sonic 3 complete, and this is my favorite platformer experience so far, and my comfort game.